Otti arrest warrant still stands â€" ICC
May 25, 2008
OFFICIALS from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have said the arrest warrant against the former deputy LRA commander, Vincent Otti, still stands in spite of reports that he was killed.
By Chris Ocowun
OFFICIALS from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have said the arrest warrant against the former deputy LRA commander, Vincent Otti, still stands in spite of reports that he was killed.
“Although there are rumours that the LRA deputy, Vincent Otti, is dead, his arrest warrant still stands until all the processes of investigation and confirmation into his death have been followed by the ICC,†Jimmy Otim, the court’s senior outreach officer based in Uganda told journalists in Gulu on Thursday.
He said the rumours about Otti’s death could be propaganda by the LRA rebels to convince the court to drop the warrant.
The arrest warrant for LRA commander Raska Lukwiya was dropped when it was confirmed that he had died in July 2006.
“We are doing this to avoid a situation whereby anybody can wake up and say that Kony or Otti is dead just for the sake of having their arrest warrants dropped,†Otim added.
Otti faces 33 counts of crimes against humanity in violation of the Rome Statute.
LRA fighters Sunday Otto,, Richard Okema and Odong-kau, who escaped from the rebel hide-out in the DR Congo, said Otti was killed at 10:00am on October 2, 2007 on the orders of rebel leader Joseph Kony.
Kony reportedly told the assembled rebel officers that he would not tolerate indiscipline, adding that Otti had been attempting to kill him after receiving foreign funds.
The ICC officials conducted a dialogue in Gulu for journalists in Acholi and Lango sub-regions on the role of the court.
Otim said the UN court had not come to replace the national courts but to complement their work to investigate and prosecute the crimes against humanity if the state was unwilling or unable to do so.
He said Kony was still abducting people from the Central African Republic, Sudan and the DR Congo to try and regroup.
Kony has refused to sign the peace agreement with the government, saying the ICC should first drop the arrest warrants against him and his top commanders.
OFFICIALS from the International Criminal Court (ICC) have said the arrest warrant against the former deputy LRA commander, Vincent Otti, still stands in spite of reports that he was killed.
“Although there are rumours that the LRA deputy, Vincent Otti, is dead, his arrest warrant still stands until all the processes of investigation and confirmation into his death have been followed by the ICC,†Jimmy Otim, the court’s senior outreach officer based in Uganda told journalists in Gulu on Thursday.
He said the rumours about Otti’s death could be propaganda by the LRA rebels to convince the court to drop the warrant.
The arrest warrant for LRA commander Raska Lukwiya was dropped when it was confirmed that he had died in July 2006.
“We are doing this to avoid a situation whereby anybody can wake up and say that Kony or Otti is dead just for the sake of having their arrest warrants dropped,†Otim added.
Otti faces 33 counts of crimes against humanity in violation of the Rome Statute.
LRA fighters Sunday Otto,, Richard Okema and Odong-kau, who escaped from the rebel hide-out in the DR Congo, said Otti was killed at 10:00am on October 2, 2007 on the orders of rebel leader Joseph Kony.
Kony reportedly told the assembled rebel officers that he would not tolerate indiscipline, adding that Otti had been attempting to kill him after receiving foreign funds.
The ICC officials conducted a dialogue in Gulu for journalists in Acholi and Lango sub-regions on the role of the court.
Otim said the UN court had not come to replace the national courts but to complement their work to investigate and prosecute the crimes against humanity if the state was unwilling or unable to do so.
He said Kony was still abducting people from the Central African Republic, Sudan and the DR Congo to try and regroup.
Kony has refused to sign the peace agreement with the government, saying the ICC should first drop the arrest warrants against him and his top commanders.